Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to electronic devices and corresponding methods, and more particularly user interface operations and corresponding methods in electronic devices.
Background Art
Mobile electronic communication devices, such as mobile telephones, smart phones, gaming devices, and the like, are used by billions of people. These owners use mobile communication devices for many different purposes including, but not limited to, voice communications and data communications for text messaging, Internet browsing, commerce such as banking, and social networking. As the technology of these devices has advanced, so too has their feature set. For example, not too long ago all electronic devices had physical keypads. Today touch sensitive displays are more frequently seen as user interface devices.
Technological advances such as the touch sensitive display offer additional flexibility. With a touch sensitive display, for instance, a user interface can change from a keypad to a music player to a gaming device in an instant. However, such technological advances do not always reduce complexity. Even with a touch sensitive display, a user desiring to read an email must first wake the device, unlock the screen, navigate to the email application, select the email, and then wait for it to be presented on the display. When the person need to check email for business or personal purposes frequently, this can be time consuming and tedious. Even when a user does not mind this additional time and effort, they are still required to look at the display to read the remainder of the email. If they are walking down the street, they run the risk of bumping into someone or something. Moreover, they may not be able to read the email if they are in bright ambient light situations such as direct sunlight. It would be advantageous to have improved user interface systems and methods that simplified access to, and consumption of, information in an electronic device.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure.